


I’m pretending you ain’t been on my mind

by princezimmermann



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: Coffee Shop, Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Pining, more character tags to be added as people show up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-04 19:23:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20476235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princezimmermann/pseuds/princezimmermann
Summary: He glanced at the schedule pinned above the manager’s desk to see who he was closing with today, and saw a new name scribbled in sharpie next to his own—DAVID. Who the hell was David?*Matteo works in a coffee shop and has to train the new guy. Unfortunately the new guy is very cute.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Crush by Tessa Violet.

Matteo very much did not want to go to work today. 

He liked his job, he did. But he was tired. Going home and taking a nap sounded much more appealing than dealing with annoying customers all day. 

He stood outside the cafe, steeling himself for the long shift ahead of him, before pushing open the door and walking inside. 

The smell of coffee and chatter of people hit him and wrapped around him like a familiar hug and he relaxed a little. The cafe had a very cozy atmosphere that, despite the fact that he had work in it, always had a calming effect. 

Right now it just made him want to sleep more than ever. 

He waved to Amira, who stood behind the counter, and went straight to the back room to get his apron. 

He glanced at the schedule pinned above the manager’s desk to see who he was closing with today, and saw a new name scribbled in sharpie next to his own—DAVID. Who the hell was David?

Matteo slipped his apron over his head and walked back out into the cafe. He tied the strings up in the back with practiced ease as he approached Amira at the register and stood at her side. She was ringing up a customer and didn’t acknowledge him.

“Who’s David?” he asked her.

“Thank you, have a nice day,” Amira said to the customer in front of her, nudging Matteo away with her elbow. She handed the customer a receipt and pointed Matteo towards the espresso machine. 

“Mocha,” she said. 

Matteo rolled his eyes and made a show of pulling the milk out of the fridge below the counter to start making the drink. 

“Thank you,” Amira said. 

“Who’s David?” Matteo repeated as he weighed out the coffee grounds.

“New guy.”

“Ugh.”

“He seems cool, I met him before his interview.”

“Why do we need new people?”

“Because all of us go to school and have weird schedules.” 

That was fair. Their manager, Heidi, had been particularly stressed when the fall semester had begun and all of her employees suddenly had very limited availability. Matteo was just starting at university after a gap year and was taking a light load so he was able to work more than the others, particularly Sara, who was always involved in at least one theatre department production at any given time. 

Matteo finished the mocha with a somewhat sloppy but still recognizable heart in the foam and set it on the counter. 

“New people don’t know how to do anything,” he complained. He got along well with everyone at the cafe, especially given that several of them were already his friends from before university. It was part of why he enjoyed working there. A new person could disturb the balance.

“That’s why you’re going to train him,” Amira said.

“You mean YOU’RE going to train him,” Matteo corrected her pointedly.

“No, you are.”

“Excuse me?”

Matteo had never trained anyone and had no interest in doing so. Usually Heidi did, or sometimes Amira or Sara. Matteo knew how to do everything but he wasn’t exactly the cafe’s star employee, preferring to be a little lazy rather than keep everything sparkling clean.

“Why me?” he asked. “I don’t know how to train.”

“There’s nothing to know, you just show him how to use the register and answer his questions and make sure he doesn’t poison any customers.”

“Why can’t you do that? Aren’t you closing with me?”

Amira turned towards the espresso machine and started making a drink. “I have plans tonight,” she said, keeping her eyes on the task.

“You’re leaving me alone with the new guy?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I have plans.”

“Doing what?”

“Non work things,” Amira answered curtly. “So you’ll have to show David how to close the cafe, and I’d recommend starting early so you aren’t here all night.”

Matteo groaned and slumped over onto the counter. “Amiiiira.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you love me?”

Matteo heard the sound of steaming milk behind him, then a mug being set down on the counter next to him. Amira patted his head.

“You’ll be fine,” she said. “I have faith in you. Drink this.”

Matteo grumbled again into the counter before pushing himself up and taking a drink of the latte Amira had placed next to his head. She’d put at least four shots in it. Maybe she did love him after all.

*

The next hour or so passed easily once the caffeine kicked in. Matteo worked the register during a rush while Amira made coffee, and he fell into his customer service rhythm of hi, what can I get you, what size, anything else, thank you have a good day. After the line finally dwindled, one last person approached the counter and Matteo was so absorbed in his routine that he didn’t even bother to look up from the register when he spoke.

“Hi, what can I get you?” he asked the customer, ready to punch in an order.

“I’m supposed to start work here today?” the customer said.

Matteo looked up to see a boy on the other side of the counter. A very cute boy on the other side of the counter, looking a little uncomfortable and a little nervous and with dark curly hair and a little silver nose ring and VERY pretty eyes and 

“David!” Amira said, jumping up next to Matteo. “We met when you had your interview.”

David turned to her and smiled, probably relieved to recognize a familiar face. “Right,” he said, “Amira?”

Amira nodded and gestured to Matteo. “And this is Matteo,” she offered.

“Hi Matteo.” David held out his hand and Matteo took it, realizing too late that his palms might be sweaty. He shook David’s hand once before pulling away.

“Hi,” he said.

“He’ll be training you today,” Amira told David. “Mostly just register for now, and then someone else will teach you how to make coffee next time you work.” 

“What’s wrong with my coffee?” Matteo asked. 

Amira pursed her lips. “Your coffee is fine,” she said. David huffed out a small laugh and Matteo’s eyes snapped to him and caught the smirk on his face. “But I think we should start David out on the best possible footing,” Amira continued. 

“My coffee is perfect,” Matteo insisted, knowing it was absolutely not true.

Amira grimaced. “Ehh.”

David laughed again, louder this time, and Matteo decided he needed to spend the rest of his shift trying to make that happen as much as possible. 

“So I’ve got to go,” Amira said, clapping her hands together and then pulling at her apron strings, “but I’m leaving you in somewhat capable hands—“ Matteo scoffed— “so you should be fine.”

David nodded, amused.

Amira pulled her apron over her head and gestured for David to come around the counter. “Go ahead through that door,” she said, pointing towards the back room, “and you can hang your stuff up on some hooks on the wall.” 

“Cool.” David did as she directed, with one glance back towards Matteo before going through the door.

Once David was gone, Amira looked at Matteo with concern.

“I AM sorry for leaving you with this without much notice,” she said, all joking set aside. “Can you handle it?”

Matteo hadn’t been thrilled at the idea of babysitting a new person while also trying to do all his regular work, but now? It suddenly didn’t seem so bad. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said. “I was just being a brat earlier. You’re good to go.”

“Well, you’re always being a brat. But you can call me if anything goes really wrong.”

“I will.”

David came back out of the back room and Amira walked over to him. 

“David, I’ll get you an apron,” she said, “and Matteo can get you a name tag.” 

She disappeared into the back and Matteo occupied himself with digging in the drawer below the register where they kept miscellaneous things. He found an unused name tag and a piece of chalk just as Amira came back out. She handed David an apron and walked out from behind the counter. 

“Have a good night,” she said, pulling on her coat. “Don’t burn down the cafe.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Matteo said, shooing her away. “Have fun with your non-work secret plans.” 

“It’s not secret.”

Matteo raised an eyebrow. “Then what are you doing?” 

“None of your business,” Amira said, before turning to leave. She waved over her shoulder. “Bye David, have fun.”

“Bye!” David called out after her. He approached Matteo, who held out the name tag. 

“This is yours,” he said. David took the tag. “You can bring the apron home to wash it if you want but make sure you bring it back. You can write your name—“ Matteo handed him the piece of chalk— “with this, here.”

David took the chalk and his eyes lit up. He looked down at the name tag with interest.

“Customers will call you by name all the time, I hate it,” Matteo said. 

“Why?”

“I forget I’m wearing a name tag and it’s a little jarring for strangers to just know your name.”

“I think I’ll be okay with that,” David said, drawing an experimental line on the name tag and then rubbing it off with his thumb. 

Matteo watched David’s hands as he carefully wrote his name in perfect block letters. David then held it out at arms length, and, apparently deeming it acceptable, pinned it to the apron. 

“How does it look?” David asked, as he pulled the apron over his head and adjusted the name tag. 

Matteo looked at the tag, then noticed how nicely the apron sat over David’s shoulders, then felt weird about thinking that, then noticed how nice David’s arms were in his black t-shirt, then felt even weirder and looked away. He cleared his throat. “Good. It’s good.”

“Maybe I could rewrite yours for you,” David said, gesturing at Matteo’s smudged name. And smirking.

Matteo rolled his eyes. “Man, I cant have you AND Amira ganging up on me.”

“But she made it look so fun.” David grinned and Matteo’s brain stuttered a little bit. David was so pretty.  
David was his coworker.  
He shouldn’t have warm fuzzy feelings for his coworker.

“Uh, I should probably. Start training you,” he said.

“Right! Show me stuff.”

Matteo gave him a tour of the cafe, and showed him where everything was stored in the back and out front. David was very attentive and Matteo kind of loved it even though he was just showing him where they kept napkins and stuff. He assumed it would be awkward working alone with the new guy, but it wasn’t. David was very easy to be around.

When a customer ordered coffee, Matteo showed David how to put the order into the register and then started making the drink. David leaned against the counter to watch.

“You’re very practiced,” David said. 

“What?” Matteo said, only half focused on David as he watched the milk steam. 

“Like, you hardly looked at the screen when you rang that lady up. You just knew where everything was.”

“Ah yeah,” Matteo said, pouring the milk and managing to create a decent leafy shape in the foam. “I’ve worked here for a while.” 

“Amira had so little faith in you,” David said, teasing. “But you seem competent enough.” 

Matteo handed the customer her drink and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

“Competent?” he said, sniffling. “I’ve never received such glowing praise.”

David laughed again and that was really the best compliment.

“Oh, and if you want coffee just let me know,” Matteo said. “We get it free, so. I can make you something.” 

“That’s okay, I don’t like coffee.” 

“Excuse me?”

“It’s too bitter.”

“Then. What do you drink?”

“There are lots of other things to drink, Matteo.” God, the way David said his name with such familiarity already was so nice. It was almost enough to distract Matteo from his current confusion, but not quite. 

“Why do you even work here?” Matteo asked. Not that he was complaining.

David shrugged. “I like the atmosphere. And I wanted to work close to the university.” 

So David was also a student, which meant there was a possibility Matteo could see him on campus. Outside of work. For some reason that thought was a little daunting, so instead of asking the obvious next question, which would be “what do you study,” Matteo said

“So, um, what do you like to drink?”

“Sweet things,” David said. “Fruity things. You know, stuff that actually tastes good.” 

“Mmm.” Matteo nodded, unfazed. “You’re gonna have a lot of fun when you learn how to pull espresso shots and you have to taste each one.”

David pulled a face. “Really?”

“Yep.” Matteo grinned at David’s disgusted look.

“Gross.”

“You’ll learn to love it,” Matteo said. He was starting to think he may have to teach David how to make coffee after all, just to see him scrunch his nose up like that again. 

As the afternoon went on and business slowed, Matteo tasked David with running the register, which he was immediately good at. He was still a bit slow finding the right buttons, and was unfamiliar with coffee terms and so was entirely confused when a customer asked for a “shot in the dark,” but he was very friendly and charming and chatty with every customer which was more than Matteo was usually able to manage.

Matteo liked being able to just listen to David talking to customers while he made coffee. It felt like a privilege, being able to spend so much time in David’s presence. Matteo could already feel that he was developing a fairly devastating crush that would certainly be unrequited—because even if David somehow liked Matteo back, anyone with sense knows it’s a bad idea to date someone you work with. 

Date—what was he even thinking? He’d just met David a few hours ago, this was ridiculous. He shouldn’t be thinking about dating the new guy, that was entirely inappropriate. 

But still. He couldn’t help how he was feeling. It’s okay to feel things as long you don’t do anything, right? 

When it came time to close the cafe, Matteo locked the doors after ushering out a few stragglers, then found David looking over the checklist of closing procedures Matteo had shown him earlier. 

“So, how do you normally split this up?” David asked. 

Matteo looked over David’s shoulder at the checklist, even though he knew it by heart. David smelled very nice. Matteo took a step back. 

“I’ll clean the espresso machine,” Matteo said, “and you can do everything else.” 

David’s eyes widened adorably. “Everything?” he parroted, looking at the long list of tasks. 

“Yeah, learn by doing right?” Matteo said, ambling over to the espresso machine and pulling out the groupheads to clean them. “This is best way to teach you.” 

David laughed and shook his head, scanning the list again before getting to work.

Once Matteo was done cleaning the espresso machine, he sat on the counter next to the register and directed David, who glared at him while holding back a smile. 

While David counted out the money in the register, Matteo stretched and laid down fully on the counter, eliciting another laugh from David.

“Comfy?” David asked.

“Yeah, this is great,” Matteo said, looking at David over the top of his head. 

“I’m glad you’re able to relax,” David teased as he began counting the change.

“It’s only because you’re such a quick learner.” 

David smiled and hummed as he counted.

Matteo glanced at his phone and realized it was already 20:30, which was technically the end of both of their shifts. He didn’t actually want to keep David late, that felt like a shitty move to pull when it was his job to make sure things went smoothly today, not David’s. 

“Hey, it’s 20:30,” Matteo said. “You’re good to go, I can finish up here.” 

He hopped down from the counter and waved David away from the register, but David stayed put. 

“I can stay,” David said. “I don’t mind.” 

“Nah, you really don’t have to, it’s only your first day. There’s just a bit more to do.” 

“Then I’ll stay and help you finish it,” David said, with a small smile. “If that’s okay.”

Matteo tried not to read anything into the fact that David was choosing to stay late with him. “Yeah, that’s okay.”

David smiled again and continued counting. Matteo went to get the mop.

Together they finished fairly quickly. They hung up their aprons with the others and walked out to the door. Matteo unlocked it and held it open for David, already feeling a little sad that their time together was ending. For now, at least. 

As Matteo locked the doors from the outside, David hovered and rubbed a hand down his face. 

“How’re you feeling?” Matteo asked.

“Good,” David said. “I mean, I think—did I do okay? For my first day?”

Matteo couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah, man, you did great. Like, really good.”

David blushed and looked down at his feet. “Good,” he said. “Thanks.”

Matteo didn’t want this moment to ever end. The street around them was empty, and he could see his breath in the crisp autumn evening air. David put on his black jacket but made no move to walk away. 

“I hope I’ve done an okay job,” Matteo said, feeling a little bit like they were the only two people in the world right now.

David looked back up at him. “Yes, I feel thoroughly trained.” 

“Except for coffee.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe I’ll teach you that next time.”

David smirked. “I’ve been told that wouldn’t be the best idea.” 

“Don’t listen to Amira,” Matteo said, rolling his eyes. “She has it out for me. She lies.”

David giggled and nodded. “Okay. You can teach me.”

“When do you work next?” Matteo asked. It was a normal question he and his coworkers asked each other all the time, but asking David felt significant. When will I see you again? How long will I have to go without you?

“Friday. You?”

“Friday.”

“Okay.” David smiled. “I’ll see you on Friday, then.” 

“Yeah.” Matteo took another moment just to look at David, who looked right back. He cleared his throat. This was too much. “I’m going this way,” Matteo said, pointing behind him. 

“I’m going the other way.” 

Matteo’s first instinct was to offer to walk David home and he knew he needed to leave before he said something stupid and made David uncomfortable. 

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll see you Friday.” 

David nodded and smiled one more time. “Get home safe,” he said.

Matteo’s chest fluttered. What a sweet thing to say. Jesus. He needed to leave. 

“Yeah, you too,” he managed to stutter out, before giving David a parting salute and turning to leave. He could hear David walking away behind him. 

Matteo closed his eyes for a moment as he walked, hoping the cold air would clear his head. He felt silly for falling for David so quickly. He also felt giddy that he’d be seeing David again in two days. 

He’d never been so eager to go back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!
> 
> i’m not sure how often i’ll be updating, but i’ll do my best. i’m thinking this may have about 6 chapters.
> 
> let me know what you think, i love love love hearing from y’all!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this took so long!!! i’m usually a pretty slow writer and i’ve been very busy aaahh
> 
> thank you for all the nice comments y’all are so sweet!!

When Friday finally came, Matteo was feeling both anxious and eager to see David again. He’d spent most of his free time the day before running over their conversations in his head, trying to relive as much of it as he could remember. He was anxious because he felt like he’d made a good impression during their first shift together and he wanted to continue that impression, knowing that he could screw it up any minute. He was eager because being around David had made him happy, and he wanted to feel that way again. 

However, he continued to worry that he shouldn’t be thinking and feeling these things towards someone he worked with, someone who had no choice but to spend time with him. 

In the day and half since he’d seen David, he wondered if his crush was real, or just a result of being in the presence of a cute guy for a few hours. Maybe it would fade as quickly as it had come, once Matteo spent a little more time with David and he was no longer new and shiny. Maybe he’d just get over it and eventually see David as nothing but a coworker. 

Part of Matteo hoped that was the case, because honestly, he really had no idea if David would even be interested in him. David might be straight. Or he might not be, but he would certainly have high standards, as cute as he was. He also might not even be single.

Matteo was so caught up thinking all of this that he barely paid attention in his Friday morning class. Usually he would be struggling to stay awake while the professor lectured on about cells or something, but today his David-thoughts kept him wide awake, though he was even less productive than usual. He couldn’t focus long enough to take notes, instead trying to summon the image of David’s smile and then reminding himself to chill, then trying to remember the exact sound of David’s snortiest laugh, and yeah, Matteo needed to chill. 

As he walked from the lecture hall to the cafe for his shift, he wondered if seeing David again would bring the crush back full force, or if the novelty will have worn off already. Maybe that’s really all it was, just excitement about a cute new person. Maybe Matteo could get over it and move on without any trouble. 

He pushed the cafe door open and immediately saw that David was already there, talking with Sara behind the counter. He was wearing another black t-shirt. He was still stunning. Matteo still felt gross churning lovey dovey feelings when he saw him. Clearly, this crush was not going to die without a fight.

Matteo walked through the cafe and around the counter, waving at Sara and David in greeting as he passed them. Sara responded with a lively “Good morning!” and David smiled, throwing up a little wave of his own. 

Matteo took a moment for himself in the back room, before going out and facing the very person he’d been obsessing over for nearly two days. He’d have to police himself around Sara and make sure to not look at David too much or too long. He didn’t need anyone knowing he had a crush. 

When he walked back out into the cafe, Sara and David were still chatting, no customers in sight. Matteo realized it felt a little weird seeing his ex and his brand new crush together—though not bad weird. He was friends with Sara, now. But it was still a little weird. 

Sara caught his eye and waved him over. She was standing with David in front of the espresso machine and Matteo joined them, giving David a nod and a “Hi.”

“Hi,” David responded. 

“Are you learning bar?” Matteo asked him, trying not to feel disappointed that Sara might have taught David how to make coffee rather than him. David had no obligation to Matteo, of course. But Matteo had really wanted to teach him. 

“No,” Sara said. “I tried to train him when he got here but he said you were going to.” 

“Oh.” Matteo’s entire gut swooped in a mixture of relief and affection. He turned to David, who looked a little unsure.

“You did say you’d train me,” David said. 

Matteo nodded, eager to reassure David that he’d been serious. “Yeah, definitely,” he said. He noticed that David’s name tag looked different—David had drawn two little fruits on either side of his name. A strawberry and an orange. 

“Since when do you volunteer to train?” Sara asked. She sounded annoyed, but Matteo knew she wasn’t. It was just the way they all spoke to each other here—they weren’t allowed to be snarky with customers, so they did it to each other instead. 

“Since I make the best coffee,” Matteo retorted. Sara scoffed. “It’s true. Howard Shultz came in last week and declared me the best barista in the world. I got a trophy.”

“Where is it?” Sara asked.

“It’s in the mail.”

David snorted next to him. 

“Alright,” Sara said, “you can train him. But you better do a good job, and don’t do anything to scare him away. He’s my new favorite.” She threw a protective arm around David’s shoulder, who wrapped an arm around her waist in response. “When he’s done with you come to me and I’ll show you how it’s actually done,” Sara said to David, who laughed and agreed.

Objectively it was nice that the two had bonded so quickly, but Matteo had a desperate need to separate them and get David to himself again. 

“Okay, okay,” Matteo said, waving Sara away. “Go help customers or something. I promise I won’t poison him.”

Sara gave David one final squeeze and let him go, sighing dramatically. She walked out further into the cafe to collect empty dishes and clean tables.

And now Matteo had David to himself, which was exactly what he’d wanted and what he’d been dreading. Because David was looking at him fondly, cheeks a little blushier than usual, probably from all the attention. And Matteo was supposed to just act normal and pretend he didn’t want to lean into David’s space and see if David would lean in right back. 

Coffee.  
They were just gonna make some coffee. No kissing. None of that. 

Matteo turned to the espresso machine, grateful for something to do with his hands, and pulled out one of the groupheads. He hit it against the hole in the counter to empty out the used coffee grounds into the bin below.

“So, how much do you know about espresso?” he asked David. He turned on the grinder and filled the grouphead with grounds and set it on the small scale next to the espresso machine. David watched all of his movements closely.

“Not much,” David said. “I know it’s gross.” 

Matteo smirked. “Right,” he said. “Have you eaten anything today?”

David gave him a puzzled look. “Yeah, why?”

Matteo tamped the coffee grounds and put the grouphead back into the espresso machine, pushing the lever that started the water running.

“Because you’re gonna be tasting a lot of espresso and it can make you a bit sick if you have an empty stomach,” Matteo said. 

David stuck out his tongue in distaste, which was cute, so Matteo looked away and instead watched the timer ticking away on the espresso machine. He turned the water off when the timer hit 25 seconds, and picked up the freshly brewed shots of espresso and smelled them. 

“Okay,” he said, pouring the shots into a porcelain cup and handing it to David. “Taste this.” 

David looked down at the espresso hesitantly. He smelled it, like Mateo had, and wrinkled his nose. Matteo laughed.

Sara came back around the corner with a tub full of dirty dishes. She stopped in front of David.

“You don’t have to swallow it,” she said. “You just have to get the taste, and then you can spit it out in the sink.”

David sighed in relief, but Matteo couldn’t help the snort that came out of him at Sara’s words. 

Sara furrowed her brows at his outburst. “What?” she asked. 

Matteo raised his eyebrows, still chuckling. He could see David holding back a laugh next to him. “You said—“

“OH,” Sara said, realizing the double entendre. “Come on, Matteo, grow up,” she said, though she laughed a bit as well. 

Matteo shrugged. “You said it.”

“Whatever,” Sara said. “I’m gonna go do dishes. David, feel free to ignore everything Matteo says.”

She took her dishes into the back room. 

David looked back down at the cup in his hands, then resolutely took a small sip, scrunching up his entire face as he swallowed it.

“That’s vile,” he said. “Is it supposed to taste like that?” 

“Yep. When you start each shift you should pull a shot and taste it to make sure you’re timing it correctly. Or you can just smell it, that’s what I do.”

“You can tell just from the smell?”

“If you know what to smell for.”

Matteo took the cup back from David, careful not to touch his hands, and dumped it out. He cleaned out the group head again and then showed David each step of pulling a shot, and had him pull one of his own and taste it.

Matteo explained the difference between a latte, mocha, americano, macchiato and cappuccino and how to make each one. He showed David how to steam milk, what it should look like and how to know it was the right temperature.

For a moment, while David was steaming milk and holding the side of the metal pitcher with his hand to feel the temperature, Matteo imagined putting his own hand over David’s under the guise of checking the temperature himself. He shook it off and shoved his hands into his pockets. This was not the time to be imagining himself in silly romantic situations.

Eventually Sara called out from the register that she needed them to make a latte, so Matteo had David pull the shots and used it as an opportunity to show him how to make latte art. He held the pitcher of milk and the cup more carefully than he usually did, wanting just a little bit to impress David, especially because David followed every single one of his movements closely, like he thought he might be tested later on everything he was shown. Matteo managed to make a nice looking rosetta, earning an impressed nod.

Matteo gave the latte to the customer, then turned back to David and gestured at the espresso machine.

“Your turn,” he said.

David’s rosetta came out as good as Matteo’s, maybe even better. He looked incredibly pleased with himself as Matteo gawked at the perfect design. 

“You’ve done this before,” Matteo insisted.

David shook his head, grinning. “Nope.”

“How’d you do that?” Matteo asked. “I can’t even do that most of the time. 

David rinsed out the milk pitcher and put it away, shrugging. “I, uh, I like to draw,” he said, suddenly a bit shy. “So. I guess I’m good with my hands.”

Matteo had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from laughing, not sure if David had meant to say something suggestive. “Really,” Matteo said, unable to suppress a bit of a smile. 

“Yeah.” David looked at him, smirked, and let out a giggle, which set Matteo laughing too.

After their giggles subsided, at the risk of learning more things about David and falling for him even harder, Matteo asked, “So is that what you’re going to school for? Art?”

“That’s mostly a hobby. I want to make movies,” David said, with a bit more confidence. Matteo was right—every bit of information David gave him just sent him further. He wanted to ask if David had any sketchbooks, and if he could see them. What David’s favorite movies were, and if they could maybe watch them together and also maybe cuddle a little bit.

Instead he said, “Nice.”

Sara appeared suddenly at David’s side.

“You make movies?” she asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” David said, “or, I want to. I’ve made a couple shorts, that’s it.”

Sara jumped in excitement. “I’m an acting major!” she said. “If you ever need actors let me know! I have lots of friends in the drama department.”

“Cool, thanks,” David said. “I actually don’t know a lot of drama majors yet, but I was thinking of taking a set design class later this year.”

Matteo saw someone approach the register out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t feel like dealing with customers so he motioned to Sara to get her attention. Sara and David turned towards the customer, and before Sara could move, David spoke up.

“Oh, we’re closed,” he said, completely sincere. Matteo was surprised to hear David say something so unfriendly, but when he looked to the customer, she was smirking, and he realized this must be someone David knew. A friend? Classmate? Girlfriend?

“I need coffee,” she said. David walked over to her and crossed his arms, tilting his head with attitude.

“You can’t have any,” he said. The girl crossed her arms right back.

“Oh really?”

“Yep. We have a sign in the back with your picture that says ‘No coffee for Laura.’”

Laura leaned around him to look at Matteo and Sara. Sara seemed highly amused by their interaction, while Matteo was still trying to figure out if he was jealous. 

“Do you hear this?” Laura asked them. “He’s bullying me. Fire him.”

David turned towards them as well. “This is my sister,” he said. “Don’t fire me.” 

Of course, they were siblings. Matteo felt a little bit foolish. 

Laura took out her phone and held it up to David, who pushed it away.

“Don’t take a picture of me, oh my god,” he said.

“But you look so cute in your little apron!” Laura said, grinning. She took a step back out of his reach and took a photo. David groaned and turned away from her, giving Matteo a full view of his red face. He made eye contact with Matteo and rolled his eyes, as if to say ‘siblings, right?’ Matteo laughed and shrugged. He’d never experienced this type of love/hate sibling teasing growing up, though it now sometimes felt like Hans filled that role.

David started making a drink, presumably for Laura, while Sara chatted with her at the register. 

Matteo figured that the polite thing to do would be to introduce himself to Laura, but knowing she was David’s sister made him hesitate. Clearly she was important to David, so Matteo needed to make a good impression. But he wasn’t always great at that. 

Laura, however, didn’t give him a chance to make a decision, when she leaned on the counter and made eye contact with him. She glanced at Sara.

“Sara,” she said, like she was trying to commit the name to memory, and then looked back to Matteo. “And...?”

“Matteo,” he said. 

Laura nodded. “Nice place you have here,” she said. “Very cozy.”

“Thanks.”

“How’s David been doing?” she asked, earning a huff from her brother, who still had his back to her. “Any embarrassing stories yet?”

David brushed past Matteo and set a to-go cup of coffee down in front of his sister with a bit more force than necessary. 

“No stories,” he said. “Leave.” He pushed at her from across the counter and she stumbled back away from him, laughing. 

“Okay,” she said, directed towards Sara and Matteo, “I’ll come back when I know he’s not working and we can talk.” She took a sip of the coffee David had made her. “Hmm, it’s not terrible.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” David sighed. 

“Fortunately for you, yes. But I’ll come back another time and hang out with all your coworkers without you.” Laura smirked and raised her eyebrows. David pursed his lips and shook his head, eyes wide. Laura nodded eagerly. They were clearly communicating something through looks alone, as siblings sometimes do. Matteo felt a little bit like he was eavesdropping as he watched them. 

Laura gave David a final wink before leaving, waving at Sara and Matteo as she did and promising to be back another time.

“She seems cool,” Sara said, once Laura was gone.

“Yeah, she is,” David said, with a fond smile. Then he sighed again. “She’s probably gonna put that picture of me on instagram.”

Matteo was just starting to wonder if he’d be able to find Laura’s instagram because the picture of David glaring at her was probably adorable, when someone slapped their hand down on the counter by the register. All three of them jumped and turned to see Leonie leaning against the counter, cool as ever. She winked at Sara.

“Hey hot stuff,” she said. 

Sara rolled her eyes at Leonie’s fake flirting, though still went a bit pink in the face. “Hi.” 

“Your carriage awaits,” Leonie said, sweeping her arm out at nothing in particular.

Sara checked the time on the register. “I didn’t realize what time it was,” she said. She turned to Matteo. “We’re gonna have to leave you now, we’re both off at the same time,” she said, gesturing to herself and David. 

Leonie took a proper look at David for the first time. “And who are you?” she asked.

“David.”

Leonie looked him up and down, in a jokey over the top way (but maybe also in a serious way). “Hi David,” she said with a smile.

Leonie was looking at David with interest, and Matteo couldn’t believe this was happening to him again. 

Leonie was single and pretty and would probably like David a lot and there’s nothing Matteo could do to stop it. Once again Leonie would get to date the guy Matteo wanted to date. 

But it wasn’t like Matteo really had a chance in either situation. Jonas was straight. David was his coworker. 

David was laughing at something Leonie said. Matteo felt a little sick. 

Leonie pointed between her and Sara. “We’re seeing a show with some of Sara’s drama friends and then getting drinks,” she said.

Sara whipped around to David and grabbed his shoulder. “You should come! Network and make new friends and stuff!”

David laughed as she jostled him and shrugged. “Yeah, okay. As long as you don’t mind me crashing,” he said to Leonie. 

Leonie grinned. “I don’t mind.”

“We’ll just get our stuff and be right out,” Sara said, gesturing to David to follow her to the back room. 

Once they were gone, Leonie leaned on her elbows on the counter and raised an eyebrow at Matteo.

“He seems cool,” she said. 

“Yeah, he’s nice,” Matteo said, not wanting to give anything away. Or maybe he should—make it clear that he liked David a little too much and Leonie should stay away from him.

Then again, David could do what he wanted, Matteo had no control over that. So what would be the point?

Leonie glanced towards the back room, then said, a little quieter, “Do you know what his deal is?”

Before Matteo could respond that no, he truthfully didn’t know what David’s deal was and had been too afraid to ask, Sara and David came back out, ready to leave.

Leonie looked disappointed at the lost opportunity to gossip, but grinned when Sara came around the counter and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Shall we go?” Sara asked. Leonie nodded and the girls walked towards the door, but David stayed where he was.

“I’ll be right there,” he told them. He turned to Matteo and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I, uh, thought you could give me your number? So we can talk, in case one of us needs a shift covered or something.”

David unlocked his phone and pulled up his contacts and handed it to Matteo. Matteo had all of his coworkers’ phone numbers already, so having David’s was normal. Expected, even. But holding David’s phone in his hand, with David’s gorgeous brown eyes watching him, felt very precious and important. 

He put his name in as “Coffee Master” and typed in his number. 

David snorted when he saw the contact name, which was Matteo’s goal. 

“Thanks,” David said. He tapped on his phone a few more times. “I’ll send you a text so you have mine.”

“Okay.”

David put his phone away and looked back up. Matteo wanted him to stay. 

“Don’t get too bored without me,” David said. I will, Matteo thought. 

“Have fun at the show,” Matteo said.

David nodded. He gave one last smile and wave and walked towards Sara and Leonie.

Matteo watched them all leave, then watched through the windows as they walked away. Then he remembered that David sent him a text and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. 

The text had no words, only three emojis: a trophy, a coffee cup, and the face with heart eyes. 

Matteo started at that last emoji for longer than he would ever admit. His whole body felt fluttery and he tried to focus on that rather than the sick feeling he got when he imagined David out with Leonie and the two of them flirting. 

He saved David’s contact name as the three emojis from the text.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! :) :) :)
> 
> tell me your thoughts!


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